


You Can Call Me Names (if you call me up)

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [28]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 08:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17525573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Prompt: Elle I would love you forever if you wrote a fic featuring Magnus and Alec's pet names for each other





	You Can Call Me Names (if you call me up)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Elle I would love you forever if you wrote a fic featuring Magnus and Alec's pet names for each other

It started off as a joke.

Alec left some papers he needed at Magnus’ loft one day, and Magnus very graciously volunteered to drop them off at the Institute between clients, not at all because he missed Alec while he was gone all day and was willing to jump at any excuse to pencil in a quick visit. Hoping for a few minutes alone with his boyfriend, Magnus was admittedly a little disappointed to find both Jace Wayland _and_ Underhill in the office with Alec when he arrived, but that didn’t stop him from dropping the papers off with a quick, modest kiss.

“Here you go, darling,” Magnus said as he handed them over.  
  
“Thanks, babe,” Alec replied just as easily, the words an instinctive reply to Magnus’ own.

It was a simple back-and-forth. Magnus, try as he might, could never get Alec to agree to any other  nicknames he came up with for him, but he decided that ‘babe’ was tolerable, and he loved when Magnus called him ‘darling’. Neither of them missed the mixture of surprise and confusion on both of the other Shadowhunters’ faces, though they had the good grace to not say anything while Magnus was still there.

The moment the warlock left, Alec never heard the end of it.

“I’m sorry,” Jace started incredulously. “Are you telling me that my brother uses _pet names_?”

“It’s cute,” Underhill defended, though the way Alec’s cheeks tinge just slightly gives away that it wasn’t really ‘helping’. “I mean… no, I definitely meant cute. Sorry, boss.”

“If I have to walk around listening to my brother spout sappy nicknames all day I’m going to hurl.”   


Alec was about to open his mouth and reassure them that he did not, in fact, ‘spout sappy nicknames’ with Magnus, and that ‘Babe’ was the extent of what he could bring himself to use in casual conversation… but in that moment he made a split-second decision that he would much rather annoy Jace instead.

“Well, it’s unfortunate if you have an issue with how I speak with Maggie,” Alec ventured after the slightest pause, pulling out the first thing he could think of. He immediately regretted the attempt the moment it left his mouth, but he was committed, and hid any trace of the internal cringe he felt as he said it. _Maggie? Really?_

Jace looked slightly mortified as he left the room while shaking his head, leaving only Underhill behind in the office with Alec.   
  
“...you’re just messing with him, aren’t you, Sir?” Underhill asked with a slight twitch of a smirk.

Alec considered Underhill for a few moments before deciding it would be safe enough to let him know. “Don’t tell him. I want to see how long this can last.”

Underhill laughed. “Understood. And, if I may, give a few suggestions…?”

\---

“Alright, Magnus. It’s your lucky day,” Alec said the moment he stepped through the door of the Loft.

“I’m getting lucky?” Magnus asked, with a wink and a smirk.

Alec rolled his eyes. “You’re getting full permission to use as many nicknames as you want whenever we’re around Jace.”

When he filled Magnus in on the situation, Magnus was more than happy to play along.

“Oh, this won’t be a problem at all. You can’t imagine how many names I’ve had just _waiting_ for you to cave on this.” And, at the mere thought of being able to use them, Magnus made a noise that was part giggle, part squeak, in eager anticipation.

“I’m not caving. Let’s make that very clear.” Alec said, keeping his face as serious as possible. “This is just for a little while, then it’s back to normal.”

Magnus sighed. “Why must you ruin all my fun? But fine. At least a little while is better than nothing.”

\---

They had a chance to test a few out the next day, since Magnus was slated to swing by the Institute for a quick meeting between himself, Underhill, Jace, and Alec.

“Long time no see, _handsome_ ,” Magnus greeted, leaning in for a quick kiss.

“Hey, _snookums_ ,” Alec countered, fighting the immediate urge to wince afterward. Okay, maybe not that one. The slight quirk of Magnus’ eyebrow was a pretty good sign that he wasn’t too fond of it either, but they both managed to keep the smiles on their faces even as Alec filed that one away in the ‘Do Not Use’ mental folder.

Careful not to make it _too_ obvious what they were doing, the names were peppered into the conversation sporadically. As they discussed the security around the Institute, finally getting to a discussion about the wards, which was why Magnus was there in the first place.  

“Listen, _angel_ , the wards are fine for another week at the very least. But if it’ll make you feel better, I can pencil in a visit a few days ahead of time.”

“It would. Better safe than sorry, not that I don’t trust they’ll last as long as you say. Thanks, _pudding_.”

“Please, don’t make me walk out on this meeting,” Jace groaned. And much to his credit, Underhill remained entirely neutral.

Magnus and Alec just smiled.  

\---  
Magnus wasted no time in showing up unannounced almost immediately after Alec got in to work the next morning.

“Good morning. I was just passing by and thought I’d drop off a coffee. A little pumpkin for my _pumpkin_ ,” Magnus said, handing the seasonally flavored latte over and side-eyeing Jace’s eyebrow raise without giving any hint he was looking for it.

“Thanks, _kitten_ ,” Alec replied, and nearly lost it when Magnus actually purred in response.

Jace, on the other hand, couldn’t contain his own reaction.

“By the _Angel_ , this is ridiculous,” he exclaimed.

“Oh, let them go. It’s cute,” Clary said as she passed by. “Maybe you could take some notes,” she added pointedly before heading off to the training room.

“Great. Now look what you’ve done,” Jace groaned, taking off after the redhead to do some potential damage control.

Once he was entirely out of earshot Magnus and Alec exchanged looks and dissolved into quiet laughter.

\---

Not only did Magnus jump at the opportunity to amp up his use of nicknames, he also started to make any and every excuse to visit Alec at the Institute so that he had plenty of chances to make the most of this while he could. Today’s excuse was that he needed a very specific herb for a potion that the Institute had on reserve for salves, conveniently finding his boyfriend standing next to Jace in the Ops Room.

“And how is my beautiful g _iraffe_ doing tonight,” Magnus greeted, biting back a grin.

“...Giraffe?” Alec couldn’t help the snort that escaped, despite his best efforts not to laugh.

“Would you prefer _stunning redwood_ , because I could climb you like a tree?” Magnus continued with a devilish grin that left Alec coughing to cover the sharp, surprised intake of breath he choked on. There was no hiding the red that spread high across his cheekbones and to his ears.

“ _Sweetie_ , we’re practically the same height.” Alec recovered the best he could.

“Where’s the form to file for a transfer?” Jace demanded. “I heard the Los Angeles Institute’s nice this time of year. Might be time for a visit. You know what? I’ll go get the dictamnus myself. You two just… stay here. Please.” Jace practically begged before disappearing down the hallway.

\---  
Alec didn’t expect any of it to last as long as it did, but nearly a week and a half later he was starting to run out of nicknames. There was a good chance that he’d have to own up to what they were doing before Jace caught on himself when one afternoon, while Magnus was stopping by to ‘consult’ on a case he and Jace were working on, Consul Penhallow decided to stop by for a visit as well.

Magnus, who clearly did not care one way or the other who was visiting, turned to Alec with another clever nickname on his tongue, and only got part-way through the sentence, “Well, sweet-cheeks--” before Alec’s foot collided with his shin under the table they were sat at, the look on his face clearly stating the game was over given present company.

Jace, however, caught the exchange and broke into a wide smirk.

“What, Alec? Don’t let Consul Penhallow put a damper on your loving terms of endearment.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Wayland,” Alec told him, the warning clear in his tone.

Thankfully, both Magnus and Jace dropped the subject until Jia was gone again, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, I suppose our fun is over, then?” Magnus asked with a sigh.

“I _knew_ there was no way you were into all those ridiculous names,” Jace declared with an air of victory.

“You didn’t seem too sure when you were practically begging for a transfer,” Alec pointed out, able to give a good-natured smile over the whole thing now that some of his stress was lifted.

Now that he found himself facing the end of this little experiment, however, Alec was surprised to find that he was actually going to miss the nicknames a little bit. Some of them weren’t half-bad. Well, okay, most of _his_ were terrible, but the ones Magnus had used were actually pretty sweet sometimes… he almost didn’t want to admit it, but he was going to miss them now that this was all over.

It wasn’t until he and Magnus were back at the Loft for the night that the topic came back up. “It was fun while it lasted. Pity it’s over already,” Magnus lamented, with an overly dramatic sigh that wasn’t meant to be taken seriously at all.

Except Alec had a week and a half to think about it, and…

“You know… some of those weren’t so bad after all.” He spoke the words cautiously. “I might not be _entirely_ opposed to using them in the future.”

Magnus beamed. “Was it ‘ _my stunning redwood’_ that won you over _?_ ”

“Absolutely not,” Alec confirmed flatly. “...though the climbing bit…?” he added suggestively, the corners of his lips tugging up into the hint of a smirk as he grabbed Magnus and pulled him in for a kiss.

“Perhaps we could try a few more out, in private?” Magnus said, pulling back for just a moment to survey his boyfriend appreciatively. “I’m open to suggestions, my love.”

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr! ](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com))


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